


The Not so Secret Valentine's Day

by Rioghna



Series: Secret... [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 17:00:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5936089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rioghna/pseuds/Rioghna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Valentine's Day contest on RumBelle for the win on FB.  Sequel to Secret Santa and Secret New Years</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Not so Secret Valentine's Day

Not so secret Valentine's Day

 

Belle looked at the bright red hearts and roses in every window and sighed. Valentine's Day was upon them and she was miserable. She shouldn't be, but she was. It wasn't a natural feeling for her, and Belle didn't know what or how to deal with it.

For the last two months, she had been blissfully happy dating Rum Gold ever since circumstance had thrown them together at Christmas. She had invited him to Christmas dinner, and he, in turn, had invited her to his big Victorian house for a private New Year's Eve celebration. Everything had been perfect, well almost everything. The problem was his caution. They had both been very careful at first. A small town can be an awful lot like living in the public eye. But after two months, Belle was tired of hiding. She wanted to walk down the street with her hand in his arm, have dinner together at Granny's and not care.

That had led to their fight. Rum worried about what being with him would do to her reputation. Belle had told him she didn't care, but the end result had been her accusing him of being ashamed of her and storming out in tears, telling him that when he was willing to stop hiding her in his closet, they could talk.

That had been two days ago. She had caught his eye across the street as she opened the library on Saturday, but for the first sit since they had started seeing one another, it brought her no pleasure, and he looked at unhappy as she was. Part of her wanted to run over, to apologize, and have him hold her and tell her that it would be fine, but she wasn't going to do that. He needed to make up his mind what it was he wanted.

 

Rum looked across the street, waiting and watching. He was miserable, and the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday wasn't making it any better. New Year's Eve had been quite possibly the best evening he'd had in decades. Champagne and chocolate covered strawberries, undressing each other in his candle lit bedroom, the pale skin against the gold lace bra, the stockings that he had slid down her legs. Just the thought was making him ache.

He'd awoken the next morning with Belle wrapped in his arms, both her legs twined gently around his bad one, one kitten asleep in the curve of her waist, while the other was curled up on his other shoulder. It had been perfect, until two days ago, when he had ruined everything the way he always did. Now he was miserable, and he was fairly certain she was miserable.

He'd spent most of his life miserable, but he couldn't bear the though of her unhappy, it was almost more than he could bear. Even Dove was looking at him sideways and disapprovingly. Rum was a coward, he knew it.  When Belle walked out, his first response was to chase after her. Instead, he had got the car and followed at a safe distance until she was safely home. Then he had returned to his big, quiet house, shattered a few satisfyingly heavy and breakable things and got spectacularly drunk and told himself that she was better off, that she didn't know what she was asking and that she would get over it. When he saw her the next day, he knew for certain he was completely and absolutely wrong. It was time that he did the brave thing. He saw Belle coming from her apartment. It was time.

 

It was a surprise to Belle when she came around the corner on Valentine's Day and found a familiar dark coated figure standing in front of the library doors.

"Mr. Gold?" she said carefully, not entirely sure what their current status was. He turned and his chocolate eyes looked as miserable as she felt.

"Have I really pushed us that far apart?" he asked softly, his accent blurring the words together.

"I...I don't know," she responded. "I don't want us to be, but..."

"Will you at least let me try to fix it?" he asked, reaching out. Belle couldn't help but take his hand.

"I won't hide," she warned him.

"Give me this chance," he said. "Give me today."

Belle nodded. She hadn't the foggiest idea what he was going to do, but she made up her mind that if he was willing to try, and he did, she would accept it, as long as it was a legitimate effort. She knew enough about him and agreements. She unlocked the library, but when she invited him in, he declined, saying only that he had preparations to make and would she please not make any plans. She nodded, but before he left, he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her temple, which was more than he had ever been willing to do in public before.

Belle was still wondering what it all meant when a giant bouquet of flowers came in, delievered by Dove. Red roses, her favourite, surrounded by hyacinths, in a large crystal vase with ivy trailing out of it.

"Miss French," the big man said. "Where would you like me to put this?"

"I..." she stammered overwhelmed. She could read the message, not only in the flowers, but in having them brought to the library, in quantity, and a vase so large she doubted she could move them without assistance. She didn't need to see the card to understand the meaning, but she fished it out anyway (Dove was kind enough to hold them low enough for her to do so before placing it where she directed on the counter).

' _My dear Belle, please forgive me. I could never be ashamed of you, the opposite in fact. But if you don't care, then it is not for me to decide, especially if the cost is you. Love, R.'_

Belle smiled and took the card. She would say if people asked, but the card was personal, and in Storybrooke, people were nosy enough to peek. She tucked in it her pocket with a smile and then an idea came to her. "Dove, would it be possible for me to ask a favour of you?"

"I will be glad to help," he said.

 

Gold was surprised when Dove came into the shop later, carrying a paper wrapped bouquet. "What..."

"From Miss French," he said, handing him the bouquet. "She said she was certain you had something much better than the florist to put them in." He also handed over the card, feeling no further explanation necessary. He especially had no intention of telling either of them of the conversation he'd had with Moe French. Mr. Gold had, of course, gone out of Storybrooke, or rather sent him, to a much larger florist down the coast with a bigger selection who was not related to the lady in question. Belle, on the other hand, had asked him to run over to Game of Thorns. It was simple enough, eleven red roses, and one yellow, and no vase required. They both knew his employer would honour them properly.

"What do you want, Dove?" Moe had asked. "If your boss has sent you to buy flowers for him, you can go back and tell him no. He's _not_ romancing _my_ daughter with _my_ flowers." The big man had held his tongue, failing to mention that in his current financial situation he was hardly in a position to turn away business. It wasn't in him. Rather, he told him that he was running an errand for a friend, not his employer. It amused him to no end that the situation was almost exactly the reverse of what the florist thought.  He would probably have a fit if he knew they were for his enemy. Privately, he did wonder when exactly the man was expected to pay his debt though.

Gold read the card and smiled before taking them from his employee and going to find the right vase for them. "Dove, I have another errand for you."

 

Regina Mills was feeling cranky. She hated Valentine's Day, all that sickly sweet hearts and flowers stuff, everyone billing and cooing like so many doves, and what were doves but rats with wings? It was for that reason that she had tried to go on with the regularly scheduled town council meeting. Unfortunately, she had been outvoted by everyone, including Gold, who was the only other member of the council who wasn't married, and even he had been unusually pleasant recently. It was enough to make her teeth itch.

In addition, Graham was working. Not that what they had was great romance, actually, unfortunately, it was more like convience. Of course, she didn't want or need any more, or so she kept telling herself. With nothing better to do, she decided to go pick up Henry at the library. Maybe if she was lucky, she could find some violation or something to ruin the little librarian's evening, not that she was dating anyone either. Actually, she didn't think that Belle was paying attention to anything but the library, though it was well known around town that her father was trying to set her up with Gaston.

However, when Regina arrived at the library, a senior from Storybrooke High, a young man she recognised vaguely, was reading her some revolting love poem. Before Regina could say anything, the young man finished and handed the librarian the parchment with a box and a bow.

"Thank you," Belle said, reaching for her purse.

"No need, Miss French. He paid extra to have you first on my list, and gave me a tip to add the chocolates."

'Well, thank you anyway, Lucas," Belle said, as the young man smiled and rushed out.

"What was _that_?" Regina asked with a look of disgust.

"Donne," she answered. "More specifically, Mrs. Barrie from the drama department came up with the idea of having the students hire out to give dramatic readings of love poems. I'm sure it's not the last one you will see. It's to raise money for the spring production."

"And who would send you a poem?" the mayor asked with a sniff. She couldn't help but notice the large bouquet on the desk, but she had assumed (hoped) that it had come from her father, trying to drum up business for his little shop. But before Belle could answer, another figure entered.

"That would be me," Gold said from the door. He'd been locking up when he saw Regina head for the library and it seemed like the right moment. If he was going to convince Belle that he was not afraid to be seen with her, ruining Regina's day was simply a bonus. "Are you ready for dinner, my dear?" he asked.

"You? You sent a poem to the librarian? Don't make me..."

"No, I sent a poem to my lady. It is Valentine's Day," he told her with a dark look.

Belle didn't know what to make of it all. She had said she wasn't interested in hiding, but she wasn't expecting something so...spectacular. "Just let me close up," she told him, trying to get her breath. He couldn't have made it clearer had he kissed her on the green in the middle of the Miner's Day celebration.

"You...the two of you..." Regina sputtered, looking a little green.

"Yes, Regina, the two of us. Now, why don't you run along and ruin someone else's evening?" he said, watching her gather her son and hurry from the building.

"Rum..." Belle said when she came out, her cheeks slightly pink. "I know I said..."

"In for a penny, in for a pound," he said with a shrug. It actually felt good. Not that he wasn't still concerned about her reputation, but, he reasoned, if it was what she wanted, he could protect her much better from his place at her side. "Now, I hope you don't object, but I did not make us reservations at Granny's diner. For tonight, I wanted something much more...intimate."

Belle smiled at him. "I think you have stepped quite far enough out of your comfort zone for one day." She came from behind the counter and kissed him.

"Good, perhaps tomorrow..."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this. This is what I was in the hurry to finish New Year's for. As far as I know, this is the last one in this story line, but who knows. Please do the usual, and comment comment comment.


End file.
